Bhashya
किंचान्यत् ; न केवलं स्थित्युत्पत्तिकालयोरेव प्रज्ञान-व्यतिरेकेणाभावात् जगतो ब्रह्मत्वम् ; प्रलयकाले च ; जलबु-द्बुदफेनादीनामिव सलिलव्यतिरेकेणाभावः, एवं प्रज्ञानव्य-तिरेकेण तत्कार्याणां नामरूपकर्मणां तस्मिन्नेव लीयमानाना-मभावः ; तस्मात् एकमेव ब्रह्म प्रज्ञानघनम् एकरसं प्रति-पत्तव्यमित्यत आह ।प्रलयप्रदर्शनाय दृष्टान्तः ; स इतिदृष्टान्तः ; यथा येन प्रकारेण, सर्वासां नदीवापीतडागादि-गतानामपाम्, समुद्रः अब्धिः एकायनम्, एकंगमनम्एकप्रलयः अविभागप्राप्तिरित्यर्थः ; यथा अयं दृष्टान्तः, एवंसर्वेषां स्पर्शानां मृदुकर्कशकाठिनपिच्छिलादीनां वायोरात्म-भूतानां त्वक् एकायनम्, त्वगिति त्वग्विषयं स्पर्शसामा-न्यमात्रम्, तस्मिन्प्रविष्टाः स्पर्शविशेषाः- आप इव समु-द्रम्- तद्व्यतिरेकेणाभावभूता भवन्ति ; तस्यैव हि ते संस्था-नमात्रा आसन् ।तथा तदपि स्पर्शसामान्यमात्रं त्व-क्शब्दवाच्यं मनःसंकल्पे मनोविषयसामान्यमात्रे, त्वग्वि-षय इव स्पर्शविशेषाः, प्रविष्टं तद्व्यतिरेकेणाभावभूतं भवति ;एवं मनोविषयोऽपि बुद्धिविषयसामान्यमात्रे प्रविष्टः तद्व्यतिरेकेणाभावभूतो भवति ; विज्ञानमात्रमेव भूत्वा प्रज्ञानघने परे ब्रह्मणि आप इव समुद्रे प्रलीयते ।एवं परम्पराक्रमेण शब्दादौ सह ग्राहकेण करणेन प्रलीने प्रज्ञानघने, उपाध्यभावात् सैन्धवघनवत् प्रज्ञानघनम् एकरसम् अनन्तम् अपारं निरन्तरं ब्रह्म व्यवतिष्ठते ।तस्मात् आत्मैव एकमद्वयमिति प्रतिपत्तव्यम् ।तथा सर्वेषां गन्धानां पृथिवीविशेषाणाम् नासिके घ्राणविषयसामान्यम् ।तथा सर्वेषां रसानामम्ब्विशेषाणाम् जिह्वेन्द्रियविषयसामान्यम् ।तथा सर्वेषां रूपाणां तेजोविशेषाणाम् चक्षुः चक्षुर्विषयसामान्यम् ।तथा शब्दानां श्रोत्रविषयसामान्यं पूर्ववत् ।तथा श्रोत्रादिविषयसामान्यानां मनोविषयसामान्ये संकल्पे ; मनोविषयसामान्यस्यापि बुद्धिविषयसामान्ये विज्ञानमात्रे ; विज्ञानमात्रं भूत्वा परस्मिन्प्रज्ञानघने प्रलीयते ।तथा कर्मेन्द्रियाणां विषया वदनादानगमनविसर्गानन्दविशेषाः तत्तत्क्रियासामान्येष्वेव प्रविष्टा न विभागयोग्या भवन्ति, समुद्र इव अम्ब्विशेषाः ; तानि च सामान्यानि प्राणमात्रम् ; प्राणश्च प्रज्ञानमात्रमेव- 'यो वै प्राणः सा प्रज्ञा या वै प्रज्ञा स प्राणः' इति कौषीतकिनोऽधीयते ।
In plain words
There is more to say. It isn't only while the world persists, or at the moment it comes into being, that it's really nothing but Brahman — that holds at the moment of dissolution too, because nothing exists apart from consciousness there either. Just as bubbles and foam have no existence apart from water, name, form, and action — everything consciousness produces — have no existence apart from consciousness, and dissolve back into it completely. So it must be understood: there is one Brahman alone, a solid, undivided mass of consciousness, all of one essence. That is why the teaching goes on to give an illustration of this dissolution. The word 'it' here is just a way of pointing to the example, nothing more. 'As' means simply 'in the way that': of all the water gathered in rivers, ponds, and tanks, the ocean is the single place they all flow into — one convergence, one dissolution, the ending of every division. In just the same way, of every kind of touch — soft, rough, hard, sticky, whatever air can carry — the skin is the single place they all converge. 'Skin' here really means the general sense of touch that belongs to it. The particular touches enter into that general sense the way rivers enter the sea, and once there, they have no being apart from it — they were never anything more than modes of that one general touch. And that general sense of touch itself, in turn, enters into the mind's power to imagine and resolve, and there too it has no existence apart from the mind. The mind's object, likewise, enters into the intellect's general capacity to know, and has no existence apart from that. And having become nothing but bare awareness, it dissolves into the vast, unbroken consciousness that is the supreme Brahman, the way water dissolves into the sea. Step by step like this, each sense object dissolves into consciousness along with the very organ that grasped it, until, with no limiting condition left standing, Brahman shines forth on its own: one solid mass of consciousness, all of a piece, endless, without a shore, unbroken — like a lump of pure salt, uniform through and through. And so it must be understood: the Self is one, without a second. The same is true of smell: every smell is a particular form of earth, and the nose is the single place where they all gather as one general sense. The same with taste: every taste is a particular form of water, and the tongue is where they gather. The same with sight: every color and form is a particular form of light, and the eye is where they gather. The same with sound, exactly as before, gathering in the ear. And these senses themselves, in turn, gather into the mind's power to imagine, which gathers into the intellect's power to know — and that, becoming pure awareness, dissolves into the one supreme consciousness. It's the same with the organs of action: every particular act of speaking, grasping, moving, excreting, or enjoying is absorbed into its own general activity and can no more be picked apart from it than a drop of water can be picked out of the sea. And all those general activities are nothing but the breath of life. And the breath of life itself is nothing but consciousness — as the followers of Kauṣītaki have always recited: 'whatever is breath, that is awareness; whatever is awareness, that is breath.'
Close to the Sanskrit
Furthermore: it is not only during the states of continuance and origination alone that the world's Brahman-nature is established, because of [its] non-existence apart from consciousness — but also at the time of dissolution. Just as there is non-existence of bubbles, foam, and so on apart from water, so, apart from consciousness, there is non-existence of name, form, and action — its effects — which dissolve into that very [consciousness]. Therefore it is one Brahman alone, the solid mass of consciousness, homogeneous, that is to be understood — this is why he states [the next passage]. For demonstrating the dissolution, an illustration [is given]; the word 'sa' [in 'sa yathā'] is [merely] the illustration-marker; 'as' means in the manner in which; of all waters found in rivers, ponds, tanks, and so on, the ocean, the sea, is the single point of convergence — a single going, a single dissolution, that is, the attainment of non-division; that is the meaning. As this is the illustration, so, of all touches — soft, rough, hard, sticky, and so on, which have air as their essential basis — the skin is the single point of convergence. 'Skin' means merely the general object belonging to the skin; entering into that, the particular touches — like waters into the ocean — come to have no existence apart from it; for they were indeed nothing but modes of that very [universal]. Likewise, that very generality of touch, denoted by the word 'skin,' having entered into the mere generality of the mind's object, [namely] resolve — like the particular touches [entering] into the object of the skin — comes to have no existence apart from it. Likewise, the object of mind too, having entered into the mere generality of the object of intellect, comes to have no existence apart from it. Having become mere cognition alone, it dissolves into the solid mass of consciousness, the supreme Brahman, like waters into the ocean. Thus, by successive gradation, when [each object] beginning with sound, together with its apprehending organ, has dissolved into the solid mass of consciousness, then, because of the absence of any limiting adjunct, Brahman — the solid mass of consciousness, homogeneous, endless, shoreless, unbroken — stands revealed, like a lump of rock-salt. Therefore it is to be understood that the Self alone is one, without a second. Likewise, of all smells, which are particulars of earth, the two nostrils are the general object of smell. Likewise, of all tastes, which are particulars of water, the tongue-organ is the general object. Likewise, of all forms, which are particulars of fire, the eye is the general object of the eye. Likewise, of sounds, the ear is the general object, as before. Likewise, of the general objects beginning with the ear, [they merge] into the general object of mind, [namely] resolve; the general object of mind too [merges] into the general object of intellect, [namely] mere cognition; having become mere cognition, it dissolves into the supreme solid mass of consciousness. Likewise, the objects of the organs of action — the particular acts of speaking, grasping, moving, excreting, and enjoying — having entered into their respective general activities, are not fit to be [separately] divided, like particular waters into the ocean; and those general [activities] are nothing but the vital breath alone; and the vital breath itself is nothing but consciousness alone — as the followers of Kauṣītaki recite: 'whatever indeed is prāṇa, that is prajñā; whatever indeed is prajñā, that is prāṇa.'